4KCBWDAY2 - A Mascot Project

22/04/2013

According to the Chinese Zodiac, I was born in the Year of the Monkey!

I amintelligent highly intelligent with a fun loving side and even look the part!

Welcome to my blog! I am representing the House of the Monkey for Knitting and Crochet Blog Week 2013 hosted annually by Eskimimi Makes. I love to try my hand at different projects ranging from throws to place mats to HUGE ball seats/roly polys. I am about to explore interesting fibers (not yarn) and last week tried my hand at home dyeing as well, kicking off this wonderful adventure dyeing yarn with black beans. The House of the Monkey fits me to a T!

I hope you will enjoy this week with me. I am looking forward to meeting a whole new group of bloggers and to connecting with old friends. For me this week is all about the different perspectives and journeys as put forward by hookers and knitters from all over the world. I will represent each day's topics via a visual narrative rather than a written one. Kick back, take a sip of coffee and enjoy my blog. Cheers!

4KCBWEC

19/04/2013

Aaack I ran out of yarn. A certain colour called "Stone" that I am using a lot of. So did two shops and an individual supplier. The result is that I am juggling two throws at the same time and am none too happy about it. I am a one project at a time hooker, I am not into swinging. Tee heee. Yip I prefer to see one project through to the end and enjoy the process of fantasising about the next project (that lip smacking, saliva dribbling anticipation) more than actually starting it whilst still busy with another.

This throw inspired by my bangle as blogged before is about two thirds finished, that means that I need to work my way through another 10-12 skeins of yarn before it can be declared done and dusted. At least I managed to pick up some of the black, orange and blue yarn whilst the stone colour is still on order.

Perhaps running out of yarn was not all that bad since I have drawn up all my postings for Blog Week already woop woop!

I will be able to enjoy Blog Week by sipping coffee whilst blog hopping and savouring all the great posts without a worry in the world! Last year I planned naught and ended up sucking a posting out of my thumb every day - eeek the pressure was insane.

I hope you will all be participating, it is such fun.

Cheers!

14/04/2013

I am eternally grateful that I fell in love with and married an architect who has a passion for interiors, furniture, art, decor, design, shoes, bags, shopping, food, street culture, media and technology, photography and travelling. There are never any dull moments being married to someone with these interests. It also means that either one of us download or stock up on all sorts of magazines and books all the time. This month was an interesting one - the first 3 magazines I picked up all featured an array of hooky projects and interior items. I just made us an authentic huevos rancheros for breakfast and am now paging through these magazines whilst sipping a great cup of coffee. Take a look:

The above and below two collages are all from my beloved Visi Magazine

I hope your weekend is also very nice. Cheers!

12/04/2013

Steam blocking is a gentle way to shape crochet squares:

Pin and then hold steam iron over finished crochet squares so that the steam penetrates the squares without adding the weight of the iron pressing down on it - steam each square before placing the next one on top.

Because we currently live in sunny South Africa, I am able to pile about 5-6 squares on the block, place it in the sun and all the squares are dry within half an hour. My block is big enough to take 2 squares next to one another so I am able to block 10-12 simultaneously without much hassle.

I like rustic processes and certainly did not feel guilty pinning my squares on nails rather than pinning down with delicate pins. The nails are not rusty and because I edged the squares with a more bulky yarn, seeing the slight rounded shapes the nails left behind, only added to the process rather than ruining it.

This throw is showcasing lovely texture by using a simple pattern, 3 different kinds of yarn and 2 different hook sizes. It is lovely to say so myself and I am still playing with the idea of joining the squares with the flat braid pattern.

These 3 squares are hooked in cotton and the stone shows the texture of the cotton-bamboo mix

Have a great weekend - I am about to block more squares in order to edge them. Cheers!

03/04/2013

To date we have traveled to 34 different countries across Africa, Asia and Europe and have been so lucky as to call a few of these countries home. Considering that there are about 190 countries in the world, we still have many travels to look forward to!

Vietnam is an incredibly interesting country with a biological and cultural diversity that blew my mind. It is the most culturally diverse country in South East Asia with more than 50 different ethnic groups. Many plant and animal species furthermore are found nowhere else in the world and scientists are still discovering new species! Halong Bay, a UNESCO world heritage site, is easily one of the most beautiful places on earth. It is in Hanoi that the husband pursued his professional career whilst I was concluding research in nearby Penang. I took the below pictures in Hanoi, HoiAn and Saigon.

A Norwegian friend living in Penang, visited Cambodia last week where she taught a poor Cambodian family how to knit! Pop over to her blog for the story and visuals - scroll down the posting for the English text in case you don't understand Norwegian ;-)

Meanwhile I recently met Ruth who sells her doilies at local craft markets. She hooks up a storm - wow I have NEVER seen anyone hooking with such speed. You go Ruth!